An Illustrated Introduction to the Somme 1916 Synopsis
The Battle of the Somme epitomised the cruelty of the Western Front. 1 July 1916 witnessed the opening round of the British Army's attempt to break through an eighteen-mile front of heavily defended German lines straddling the River Somme in northern France. Preceded by an artillery bombardment of over 1,500 big guns that lasted a week, the inexperienced members of Lord Kitchener's New Army went 'over the top' and suffered the deadliest day in British military history. On the first day, British losses alone totalled nearly 20,000 dead. In the next four and a half months of combat, over 350,000 British soldiers would become casualties to one of the most intense, lethal, and futile engagements in history.
Robert J. Parker has been a school teacher for over thirty years and is the author of British Prime Ministers, and The Kings & Queens of England both published by Amberley. He has Bachelors and Masters degrees in history and combines his passion for the history of the First World War with frequent travel to the battlefield sites. He spent several months based in France studying the remains of the Western Front trenches for this book. He is currently working on a new history of the 1917 Battle of Passchendaele, also for Amberley.
